“In 2014 The Republic of Oma Rāpeti Press launched a new republic, complete with a flag, and national anthem. To celebrate this event, we have dedicated a special edition of Catalyst to invite writers to share their vision of their own republic” – so begins Doc Drumheller’s preface to the 11th edition of Catalyst. It’s a pretty cool idea, I think, and the issue is worth it for the illustrations of urban art (what we used to call graffiti) alone. It is, I suppose, invidious to single out particular poems from a fascinating bunch, but I have to say that I was particularly intrigued and moved by Abby Friesen-Johnson’s prose-poem “Man Cave”:

Last week a little girl I was babysitting led me by the hand through her house …
“Wow, I’ve never seen a real man-cave before,” I told her, and it’s true. I’ve only ever seen them on TV shows with laugh tracks … she said “This is where daddy comes when he’s tired of me,” her pride not sagging an inch, and suddenly it made sense why we were still standing at the door. [p.25]

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About Me

I've published several collections of poems, including City of Strange Brunettes (1998), Chantal's Book (2002), To Terezin (2007), Celanie (2012) and A Clearer View of the Hinterland (2014), as well as three novels, a novella and two books of short fiction. I've also edited a number of books and literary magazines, including (from 2014) Poetry NZ. I have a PhD in English from Edinburgh University, and work as a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Massey University's Albany campus (ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3988-3926).